1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to data security on computer systems.
2. Background Information
Existing methods of preventing unauthorized write access to non-volatile storage such as FLASH memory typically rely on "secret" access methods to a write enable circuit. These "secret" access methods to the write enable circuit can be reverse-engineered through the use of standard debugging hardware. Once reverse engineered, a person will be able to produce code that can write to the "protected" non-volatile storage at will. If the code is used in a malicious manner, it can be used to introduce viruses into the "protected" non-volatile storage or even destroy the content of the non-volatile storage.
Thus, it is desirable to have a more robust approach to preventing unauthorized access to non-volatile storage. As will be described in more detail below, the present invention achieves these and other desirable results.